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Episode #214: How Fit Can You Get If You Start Training When You’re Over 40?

Oct 24, 2012 free podcast: How Fit Can You Get If You Start Training When You’re Over 40? Also: should hot and cold adaptation be seasonal, which gelatine is the healthiest, ZMA effects and side effects, ski workouts that double as off-season triathlon workouts, can improved running form lower your heart rate, and is oxygen therapy while exercising beneficial?

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November 1, Thursday, 6:30pm at Pilgrim’s Learning Center in Coeur D’ Alene – Ben Greenfield is teaching a free class: “Maximize Your Workout For Fat Loss” – what works and what doesn’t when it comes to exercise and fat loss.

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Listener Q&A:

As compiled and read by Brock, the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast “sidekick”.

Audio Question from Boštjan @ 00:14:50
Can you gain speed (cycling and running) if you start training at 40 years old and haven’t been training before that?

Audio Question from Jorge @ 00:41:30
He recently learned to improve his running form and posture from youtube videos (forward lean and higher cadence) and noticed that he is now running faster with a lower heart rate. Could the changes he has made have lowered his heart rate?

Prior to asking your question, do a search in upper right hand corner of this website for the keywords associated with your question. Many of the questions we receive have already been answered here at Ben Greenfield Fitness!

Time to do a little more fact checking, VO2 max does decrease with age (ofcourse?) and so does lactate threshold, endurance and just about every other performance factor after age 30. Max HR doesn't even have a predictable statistical relationship with age. It generally decreases, but by hugely variable amounts. In any case MHR isn't the key component in endurance decline and you should probably consider a correction.

What I was saying was that stroke volume or the ability of muscles to extract O2 from blood does not affect your performance as you age, especially related to age related decline in max HR. Here's a article on age related decline in max HR on this for you:http://jap.physiology.org/content/105/1/24.full

You mentioned in this podcast that you convert videos to mp3s so that you can listen to them on the run. That is exactly why I don’t watch/listen to many videos… I need them on my iPod! May I ask what program you use to do this conversion?

Also, on the last podcast you mentioned a free body scan mp3. Do you have the link for that?

Not really. Especially if you go with something like Kreaceps or Kre-Alkalyn. I found those forms don't have those kind of issues compared to basic creatine monohydrate. But SOME people seem to be hyper responders to creatine and swell up no matter what!

Ben- I live in Crested Butte Colorado and do much endurance racing and training between 9,000 ft and 14,000. I use a hyperbaric chamber, and supplemental oxygen to load before a training session or a workout. I also use a infrared sauna to help with toxins and plasma levels. I use a gps and track most of my sessions. After a day at the spa loading with oxygen, my bike rides and runs are about 20-35% higher ( vertical ft climbed ) on the same trail runs and rides. So with oxygen therapy – if you are training at super high elevations do you consider this method of recovery useful? I am a personal trainer and can see the difference in my training. Is this because I live and train so high?
Tim